Saturday Success: a fool's errand, using money when it matters & 30 how to principles
Making life & money work for you.
Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
This week we have:
Master Yourself: Stop running this fool’s errand
Master Your Money: Use money when it matters
The Weekly Special: 30 Classic “How To” Principles
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
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Master Yourself
Your writing sucks.
But it’s not the worst.
Well, it might be.
Nah, it’s actually pretty decent.
You should do this for a living!
But don’t quit your day job.
Sigh.
This is the stream of thought that runs through my head each and every time I sit down to write something.
Feel familiar?
I’ve written a lot of stuff. Hundreds of articles on health, wealth and relationships.
I wrote a love story once under the name “An Anonymous Narcissist with Romantic Tendencies”. I suppose that was clever. It was an okay article. If you’re into feels.
I wrote online rap battles for a couple months. How super clever! They were okay raps if you’re into burns.
I had a poem published in a book. Then they wanted me to buy the book lol. I think I wrote for a scam. Great. It was an okay poem if you’re into that sort of thing.
So I guess what I’m saying is I’ve been chasing writing perfection ever since I was simply writing in my diary at the tender age of 7 or 8.
Now at 36 I feel comfortable saying…the writing doesn’t have to be perfect. Which is good, because it certainly isn’t perfect. The articles are never perfect.
What even is perfect?
I wrote and rewrote this piece 15 times. I deleted this sentence. Then added it again. Then removed a word.
I jotted down a note on a napkin at a diner. Lost the napkin. Pitched a fit. Remembered the line I wanted. Realized it wasn’t that great. Tossed and turned in bed.
I’m no James Joyce. Shit, I’m not even James Patterson. Do these words matter to anyone? Are they getting through?
I honestly don’t know. I’ll need you to tell me. But until then, I’m gonna keep on imperfectly writing.
Master Your Money
I’m as frugal as the next Money Twitterer.
You’ll see me preach about savings rates and deploying every extra dollar into investing and getting your 401k match.
But, the other day I came across something that smacked me upside the head.
It’s one of those things you know, but you need a reminder sometimes.
Someone said “I could give my 90 year old grandma 10k today. But it’s worthless. She can’t do anything with it.”
We only have a finite amount of time to enjoy the experiences our money can buy.
This is why we planned 2 family vacations this year.
We’ve made all the smart money moves. So we feel comfortable spending twice as much on vacations this year.
After all, we’ll never be this young again.
Weekly Special
30 Classic “How To” Principles
In the classic Dale Carnegie book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale discusses specific principles.
30 of them to be precise. And I’d like to refresh you on them here.
All 30 principles guiding how to live and do business with other humans.
In one quick read.
Three Fundamental Techniques:
Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Six Ways to Make People Like You:
Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember a person’s name and use it.
Be a good listener, encourage others to speak about themselves.
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
Make the other person feel important, sincerely.
Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking:
The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
Show respect for the other person’s opinion. Never say “you’re wrong”.
If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
Begin in a friendly way.
Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
Let the other person feel that the idea is their own.
Try to honestly see things from their point of view.
Be sympathetic with their ideas and opinions.
Appeal to the nobler motives.
Dramatize your ideas.
Throw down a challenge.
Nine Ways to be a Leader:
Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
Talk about your own mistakes before calling out theirs.
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
Let the other person save face.
Praise every improvement, even slight ones.
Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
Make the other person happy about your suggestion.
Thanks for reading! See you next Saturday!
If you’re interested in building your online writing into a 4-5 figure business…Get The Medium Formula for less than you’d pay for dinner.
Here’s a picture of Lisa (my gf) and I from one of our days in Park Slope this past week. It’s a great neighborhood in Brooklyn. If you ever have the chance to go, go! Have a great upcoming week!